PEARL, Miss. (TCD) — A 21-year-old woman will spend the rest of her life behind bars after multiple witnesses saw her slam her 2-month-old infant onto a road last year, causing fatal blunt force injuries.
According to 20th Circuit Court District Attorney John Bramlett Jr., a judge sentenced Makaylia Jolley to life in prison without parole after she pleaded guilty on Nov. 6 to the capital murder of her daughter, Khalysie Jolley.
On May 12, 2022, the Pearl Police Department responded to several 911 calls reporting that Jolley picked up her 2-month-old daughter by the ankles and slammed her onto a concrete road repeatedly, Bramlett said. He called it a day that “bystanders and others on North Bierdeman Road in Pearl, Mississippi, will never forget.”
Jolley reportedly left the infant on the street and fled into a nearby wooded area, where officials found her and took her into custody.
Khalysie Jolley was transported to Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital and succumbed to her injuries two days later. According to Bramlett, the child suffered “extensive skull fractures, brain swelling, abrasions, hemorrhages to her eyes, a right elbow fracture, left thumb fracture, and brain bleeding.” Officials ruled Khalysie Jolley’s death a homicide due to blunt force injuries to her head.
After medical treatment and evaluation, Jolley reportedly told Pearl Police that she “hurt her baby, and she didn’t know why she did it, but it was an accident,” Bramlett said. Officials also interviewed several eyewitnesses and some of Makaylia Jolley’s family members.
A Rankin County jury indicted Jolley on a charge of capital murder on Nov. 17, 2022.
According to Bramlett, on May 15, 2023, his office said the state of Mississippi would seek the death penalty against Jolley if the case went to trial. Several months later, on Sept. 13, Jolley underwent a mental evaluation and was deemed competent to stand trial. On Nov. 6, Jolley entered a guilty plea for the abuse and killing of her daughter.
Bramlett said in a statement, “This is an unexplainable and heinous crime against an innocent child.”
He continued, “The very woman who was supposed to love and support Khalysie is the one who chose drugs over her children and caused Khalysie’s death. Makaylia Jolley will die in prison where she belongs for committing these crimes against her daughter.”
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